In which our hero finds time to breathe again…

The weeks that I spent covering my colleague’s position while he recovered from his vestibular disease were exhausting, and it was with great relief on my part that he has returned to work.

Which was good from a timing perspective, as we departed October 1st for Italy, where we have been for the past few weeks.  The Confrérie de la Chaîne des Rôtisseurs held their Grand Chapitre in Venice this year.  It was a gathering of over 400 foodies from all over the world, and what a week we had!  Put that many gluttons and winos in a room together, and you know it’s going to be a party.

We were given access to some amazing buildings for our events.  The investiture ceremony and luncheon was held at the Scuola Grande di San Rocco.  With rooms decorated by Tintoretto, the lavish elegance was the perfect venue for our gathering.

Our favorite event of the week was the Gala Dinner, held at the Palazzo Pisani Moretta on the Grand Canal.  Lady Wife and I decided it would be best to arrive traditionally, so we traveled from our hotel to the palazzo by gondola.

Three floors of the palazzo were setup for our evening, with many staff in attendance to cater to our every whim.

As we walked in the door, we were handed a glass of Prosecco.  Just the way to start the night.

It was a fantastic week, and this magical evening was the perfect way to end it.

The following Monday we left for Tuscany, and spent a week at our friend’s B&B.  Then we drove to the Valpolicella region for a week of visiting wineries, and enjoyed some amazing Amarones and Ripassos.  Here’s Lady Wife on the terrace overlooking the vineyards in Negrar.  A group of us had gone to dinner at my favorite restaurant in Venice, Bistrot de Venise, where the 7 of us managed to drink two bottles of the 1997 Giuseppe Quintarelli Amarone.  Considering there were only 3 bottles left in all of Venice, we were extremely fortunate.  At €350 a bottle, it’s not an experience that happens often.

We drove back to Venice after that to decompress for a few days at the Bauer Palladio Hotel & Spa.  This is Lady Wife’s favorite place in Venice.  If you are a fan of spa treatments, theirs will certainly impress you.  I don’t recall ever feeling so relaxed.  The rooms are amazing in this hotel.  My photos cannot begin to do them justice.

Being located on the Giudecca, it has two wonderful features not common in Venice – a garden, and an outdoor deck that gave us the most wonderful view of the city.

This was the view from our deck the last morning we were there:

As always, we hated to return to the U.S.